Ian's 8th Birthday

Ian recently brought it to my attention that I failed to document his 8th birthday party on the internets. So, here are some pictures from Ian's 8th birthday extravaganza! (His birthday was in November. That's why you'll see some Christmas decorations in a few on the pics)


Bowling with his brother and his best friend from school!


Pizza and cake at home with family and friends!


Making a wish...


Opening gifts at the party!



Two days later, on Ian's actual birth date... Hanging with the dogs and waiting for more gifts.


More presents!



Birthday breakfast at one of Ian's favorite places - Abner's in Hilliard. We love this place. It's cheap and the food is always great.

Ian Eats Donuts

This morning, Ian wanted donuts from The Lil Donut Factory in Hilliard. Tony didn't want to drive that far (2 whole minutes), so he convinced Ian that Tim Horton's would be an acceptable substitute (also 2 whole minutes away). Ian asked for 6 donuts - a combination of glazed and chocolate covered. What Ian wants, Ian gets. He liked the glazed donuts but didn't care for the chocolate covered ones. Also, pajama shirts are optional at the breakfast table (for kids) in the Stewart house.

A few of Ian's favorite things

Making funny faces, eating White Castle chicken rings, and making funny faces with chicken rings... This are a few of Ian's favorite things!

Connor's Favorite Snack

This is one of Connor's favorite snacks - cheese and crackers. His specifications are exact: 10 Ritz Crackers, 5 slices of sharp cheddar (not Kraft brand), and 5 slices of marbled cheddar (not co-jack and not Kraft brand).
*Note that the quantities on this plate vary from Connor's specifications because the items were prepared by Ian, who doesn't give a shit about Connor's "rules".*

Wise Owl Chips, Chinese Food, and Iacono's

My mom and Steve love Wise Owl potato chips. They aren't typically found in central Ohio and they always stock up on them when they can find them while on out-of-state road trips. I happened up 4 bags of these salty carbs while I was at Big Lots recently and gifted them to Pam and Steve for Christmas.

Here is take out from Joey Chang's in Hilliard. This isn't your ordinary takeout Chinese. This is high class carryout from a sit down restaurant. Siam chicken, Triple Delight, and dumplings.

Iacono's pizza!

Ian opted for chicken fingers from Iacono's. The real star of this picture is obviously Ian. He's awesome.

Yep, Ian is still awesome in this picture.

Pre-Christmas Festivities!

I made about 10 dozen cookies for the holidays. I rarely ever bake, so this was a big undertaking for me. The plan was for the kids to help out, but they could not have been less interested. When given the choice of playing video games, playing in the snow, or helping mom bake cookies, the first two win out every time.

We always host our families on Christmas Eve and that requires me to cook my ass off. I like to save my energy for "the big show" in the days preceding Christmas Eve, and that means that we order pizza so that I don't have to cook or clean. This pie is from Flyer's.

Here's Ian at his first grade class Winter party. As is typical at public schools, the Winter party is non-specific to any holiday or religious event (as it should be). I had a great time helping out and hanging out with the kids.

I also joined Connor's third grade class for their party. Oddly enough, theirs was Christmas specific. The teacher even read a book about Christmas and the Christ child's birthday. I've been to half a dozen Winter parties at the kids' school and this is the first one that was specific to Christmas. Looks like someone's teacher decided to pull a Sara Palin and go rogue... The kids didn't seem to notice the non-secular nature of the party and had a great time.

Ian's Best Day Ever

This past Saturday was Ian's 7th birthday. We celebrated for two straight days with dinner at BW3, a sleepover with my cousins, a trip to see Planet 51 with five kids in tow, and a pizza party.

Let's start with the cake. I love Sam's Club cake - sugary and heavy on the frosting.

This was my favorite gift that Ian received. His Grandma and Grandpa Davis his gave him, among other things, a rubber chicken! When you squeeze it, an egg comes out with a yolk and all. Awesome.

What does every boy want for his 7th birthday? A chainsaw, of course! Here is Connor with Ian's new (fake) chainsaw.

Here's the birthday boy, Ian! Ian's quote of the day "I can't believe I'm 7 and I can't believe that I am having my best day ever!"

Here is Ian with my cousin, Emma. They are dressed as Batman and Batgirl.

Let's Be Honest...

Let's be honest, the food at Frisch's kind of sucks. What doesn't suck is this adorable kid standing in front of Frisch's Big Boy. I'll spare you the details regarding the breakfast buffet that was inside...

Public Service Announcement: IHOP SUCKS

We ate at the IHOP in Manhattan Kansas a few weeks ago when we were in town for a wedding. There are no IHOPs in Columbus, but their commercials are on TV constantly. Their food looks yummy. Their core competency is breakfast foods. It should be good, right?

Excitement builds as we enter IHOP!

Orders are placed, we are all looking forward to the arrival of our meals! And then - disappointment. The food sucked. See that bread on my plate? Yeah, it was supposed to be TOAST but it was neither warm nor crispy, so I can't say that it was toasted at all. Eggs, runny and cold. Hash browns, unseasoned and cold. I didn't even bother taking a picture of Tony's food, but suffice it to say that it involved partially cooked bacon.

Ian and Connor had pancakes. I hate pancakes and didn't taste these so I can't say for sure whether they were good or not. Ian seemed to like his. Connor barely touched his. Note to IHOP: If you are going to put 5 different syrups on the table, could you PLEASE INCLUDE MAPLE? I really shouldn't have to ASK for maple syrup, m'kay?

On a positive note, here are the fellas looking handsome at Tony's sister's wedding.

More NYC Food

Pancakes at a diner in the East Village.



I tried to order a bowl of French Onion Soup at this diner and they were out. I had no backup plan so I fell back on what is usually a sure bet, a turkey reuben. Guess what? This was THE WORST ruben ever! Why? Because it was on toasted white bread and it had NO dressing.

Bagel breakfast sandwich... Yummy! This was at Europan, near Columbus Circle.

This pissed me off. While Ian and I were at Coney Island, I ordered a hot sausage on a role and asked for SAUERKRAUT. The guy served it with onions and peppers. I didn't correct him. He looked like he was working hard and I am sure that it was an honest mistake. I cannot stand green peppers. I loathe them, actually. So I picked them off and proceeded to eat the sausage. It was good. And it was served on a hoagie roll, not a hot dog bun, so that was special. FYI - The cost of this sandwhich, one Coors Light, one pretzel, and one Diet Pepsi was $19.00. Outrageous!




Here is Ian's Coney Island pretzel.

This is my wacky great-aunt. She took Ian and I out to dinner at Adriatic's in the East Village. I love this place. The pizza is great and the dinners are outstanding. She had soft shell crab Francese.

I had chicken Francese with a side of pasta with roasted garlic and olive oil. As Rachel Zoe says, I DIE! (that means that it was good!)

NYC - PIzza

There is nothing quite like authentic NYC pizza. One of my favorites is Frank's Trattoria @ 1st Ave and 21st Street. I make a point of stopping there every time that I am in town.




The pizza at Adriatic's is great too, but not as good as Frank's. They are only a few blocks apart. Adriatic's is 1st Avenue and 18th.



I can't remember the name of this pizza place, but it is a few blocks outside of Times Square and Ian and I have stopped there in the past. It's good, not great.

People and Animals Dressed as Food

Connor and I were at Target yesterday when he spotted Halloween costumes for dogs at the end of the pet food aisle. It sounded like a good idea to dress our dog like a hot dog for Halloween, and it was only $9.99, so we bought it. Shadow doesn't seem to mind wearing it either.

Ian got a hold of Shadow's costume this morning and decided that he would try it on. I don't which one looks more cute - the dog or the kid!

*Blog readers: Do you have any pictures of people or animals dressed as food? If you do, please send them to me so that I can post them here!*

Vacation Pictures

Connor's favorite ice cream place in Ocean Isle... Okay, it's the only ice cream shop on the island. All of the ice cream is homemade and really delicious.

Waves.

Me and Ian.

Tony, self portrait.

Aqua Man, Ian

Ocean Isle Beach - Dinner at Sharky's

Our first dinner out while on vacation. Ian has taken to posing as either Dr. Evil (as seen here) or as Jeff Hardy (the professional wrestler) when I take his picture. I must prefer the former over the latter. He had a hot dog for dinner.

Unfortunately, my mom developed a shellfish allergy a couple of years ago and this prevented her from eating anything worth a damn while we were away. She and Steve opted for pizza.

Check out Tony's awesome shirt.

Here's my dinner. It was awful. I ordered breaded scallops and shrimp. The scallops were slimy. The shrimp was on the level of Red Lobster, but not as good.

Connor had hot wings.


Tony and his pretty shirt had a steak, onion rings, mashed potatoes, and grilled veggies.